TROLLING FOR THE SALMO-FEROX. 383 



M'Faydon. " Yon's an awfu' place for wild-cats. I heard 

 them answering ither wi' sic screighs, ae nicht whan I passed 

 late, I thocht I wad hae been frichtened oot o' ma joodgment." 

 " And what did you do, Sandy ? " " I jist f aided ma arms 

 across ma throat, an' ran past the burn as hard as I could split. 

 Catch me gang past that place again after the gloamin' ! " 



There is something very imposing in this outlet of the Awe : 

 the rocks on each side so rugged and steep ; the narrow deep 

 water so dark from their shadow. If you drop a pebble into 

 it, the sound is so vivid and hollow, you shudder at the dis- 

 tance it must sink before finding its bed. I rather think the 

 sudden and great depth of the water is one reason why so few 

 fish frequent this creek. We now emerged from the bay, and 

 coasted the stony cheerful shore of New Inverawe. When 

 skirting this shallow, and gliding slowly past the little isles 

 which lie beyond, Sandy is always in expectation " o' a rug." 

 He was not gratified by one to-day. 



May 4th. Up at four o'clock, intending to troll down to 

 the ford at the foot of the loch, a distance of nineteen miles. 

 It was a dead calm when we rowed off, but, from certain ap- 

 pearances in the sky the evening before, we were pretty sure 

 of at least as much wind as we wanted before breakfast-time. 

 So it proved. By ten o'clock we had a south-wester which 

 effectually barred our progress farther down than Castle 

 Connal. Put about, and drifted back with the wind, trolling 

 the best bays and shores on each side of the loch. Hooked a 

 very fine trout off a rocky point five miles below Port Sona- 

 chan. It was tenderly hooked, and slipped off, to our chagrin. 

 Crossed to the Sonachan side, and hooked another with a 

 salmon-smelt. Landed him, after a tough struggle of three- 

 quarters of an hour, on Bala-Menach shore ; ten pounds, and 

 in the finest condition. No more runs till we passed Cladich 

 burn, and began to pull along the inhabited island. I then 

 hooked a fish which soon came to the top of the water, and I 

 saw he was a pike. Sandy assured me it was " ane o' thae 



